Fluidized bed

[mitch1313]

Has anyone had any experience with a fluidized bed filter? i was thinking about getting one but the smallest one is rated for 250 gallons. i have a 40. is it any good for discus anyway?

[bmrin1]

I have one and have mixed feelings about it. It always carried whatever bioload I put on it but it is a royal pain in the a$$ to clean. The model that I had as soon as the power went out or you did any thing that caused the water to stop flowing through the filter the sand settled and pluged up the tubes and getting it restarted was a nightmare. Also if the water stops flowing for even very long the biobed in the fillter would be killed off.
Not worth the time and trouble and chance of killing your fish.
Brian

[mitch1313]

thanx. sound like too much of a hassle. maybe i won't get one.

[doug]

I have used 3 Lifeguard Fluidized Bed Filters for about 6 years now with good results. If you do have a power failure it's true it may be a problem getting up and running again as it could plug up the tube in the centre. Sometimes it will just start up with no problems at all. I only clean them out completely about every year and a half. They are particularily good if you feed heavy and don't do a lot of water changes. I only change water 2x per week, about 25 to 30%.
Hope this is of help!
regards
Doug